Blood test?

Hi friends! Me again!

Just a quickie this time. I finally sucked it up and called my MD about testing for Lyme (not LLMD so I was nervous about her reaction). She said if I can recall being bitten, come in for a blood draw. I don't know anything about bloodwork but is it that easy? Is there a specific test I should request or any questions I need to ask?

Thanks in advance
Zach

Purrrsiankitty said...
Hi Zach, as far as labs, you may not have a choice. There are better labs than others, igenix over quest for example.

Remember, however Lyme and co infections are a clinical diagnosis. If your doctor isn't a llmd, he may not recognize this. Testing is horribly inaccurate.

You would be better off finding a llmd to work with. Let us know if you'd like some names, we can see who is in your area.

I'm getting blood drawn right in my doctor's office, probably tomorrow. No idea what happens with the sample after that. I imagine it'll just go to the hospital lab but who knows. I guess I'm not holding my breath on this working out.

Print out the Igenex requisition order, ask (tell) your doctor you want your blood sent there.

It took me a few minutes but convinced them to do the right thing.

Purrrsiankitty said...
It certainly is worth a try. My PCP gave me the song and dance about Igenix not being an accredited lab and gave me the singular option of Quest.😐

I just saw the Igenex price list and well, that's pretty much out of the question for me. So I guess I'm gonna do whatever she wants or whatever my insurance will cover. Can they not test it at the local hospital lab? Maybe I should see a pathologist rather than my PCP. This is all so confusing and nerve wracking :/

If you can't do the Igenex tomorrow - you can still do it another time.

Yiu never know - you may get a positive from the other lab.

Girlie said...

caramba said...
Print out the Igenex requisition order, ask (tell) your doctor you want your blood sent there.

It took me a few minutes but convinced them to do the right thing.

Can you do the Igenex test without their test kit? I can't remember all that's in the kit - other than a lab req and some tubes for the blood - but I think there may be instructions for the lab as well.

Give Igenex a call tomorrow before your appt and ask.

You will want the Lyme western blot IgM and IgG from Igenex.
$210 includes both tests.

$210 is a nonstarter for me. Guess I'll just let the Lyme kill me

Girlie said...
Do you know when you got the tick bite?

Last summer. My house is surrounded by woods on 3 sides and fields on the other and I spend the majority of my time working outside. I remember several bites but never gave it a second thought until I noticed symptoms.

I've had in the back of my head that you would prefer to have the Western Blot test over Elisa.

My first test in '92 was Western Blot.
My last test in 2015 was Elisa. I just flat out don't care for the Eliza method, even though it caught that I have RMSF, but nothing else. With the first one neither I nor my pcp knew how to read the Western blot, I was sent somewhere else to read it and was just flatly told "Lyme is not in Missouri, you don't have it, your positives are wrong".

Anyway, to make sure of my thought, I found a reference to describe the difference and also why some labs may use one method over the other (cheapness)

www.ticktalkireland.org/elisavswb.html

Here's an explanation of some of the tests.

www.betterhealthguy.com/lyme/testing

julymorning said...
When I did the requested second test for the pos. RMSF, the second test was Elisa again. NOT W.B.

Things may be different here, different with what the labs use, what labs the clinics use, and may have changed between the early 90's and now, 20 years later. It's a crap shoot.

Grrrr! On Elisa.

You know, I am beginning to wonder if it also makes a difference what insurance is covering it? Or if it's cash.
I'm not the only one that gets a strong feeling that low or fixed income people get sub par attention and care.

Not all labs have a two-tiered Screening for Lyme...I just know my healthcare did (CDC test) - so when I was negative on the IFA - the follow up WB wasn't done.

I would ask for the Western Blot test. You may get lucky and have a positive test.

You can call Igenix Lab in CA and they will send you a free kit. When and if you can come up with the money you can have your doc fill out his part. That script is then taken to your lab (their paperwork is included in the kit). You then take all the info to Fed-ex and mail it out. Bloodwork should be done on a Monday so the blood doesn't get bogged down by the weekend. If you decide to go this route just ask more questions. Igenix tests for more bands than other labs.

Patty

Following up with some new info: my sample, drawn today, is being sent to Quest in Chantilly VA for a western blot. Hopefully that's good news? Has to pull some serious teeth just to get staff in the office and in the lab to understand what I wanted.

Traveler said...
Well, Quest is one of the worst labs for these tests, but some people have still gotten a positive or some positive bands from Quest. Best of luck!! Maybe you will be one of those people that still gets some indication that you have these infections! The good news is you don't have very long to wait for the results.

Great 😒😒 I didn't have any choice about the lab and I can't afford to do it any other way I guess I'll cross my fingers. I'm basically convinced I'm Lyme positive so it's just a matter of convincing someone to treat it at this point.